Before, After, After-after or How I Revived a Forgotten Painting

 

This colorful semiabstract painting featuring a bouquet of textured roses didn't always look like this. I quite liked the very first version (as seen below) but the shadow was a bit off. I don't paint realistic, but I like to respect some kind of likeness even though it still isn't 100% true. I started with creating the shadow and the light in the right place of the painting but after finishing it, the composition was a bit off (view the second picture below).  

Colourful Gift Boxes for Art Lovers and Crafters

I am happy to be back with some pretty gift boxes that I painted recently and I would love to share with you. I really enjoy painting these trinket boxes in different colours with various floral patterns and I always have a recipient in mind: gift for girls, gift for mums, gift for gardeners, gift for art lovers, gift for crafters, and many more. They are small-ish and cute and you can keep many items in them from jewellery and hair ties to sowing kits and seed packets. 

New Contemporary Floral Paintings using Palette Knives

Not sure if 2022 will be a change of direction for me, but the latest floral paintings are a bit different than my usual paintings. I still created my signature roses using think paint and a stick to create texture, but the artworks are made using mainly the palette knife technique. 

Sicilian Inspired Seascape

 

You've probably seen my last post showing the first steps into creating a Sicilian inspired bedroom. One thing that I did, was to paint a seascape inspired by the Mediterranean island. I don't really do many seascapes, but this one is specially created for our home getting inspiration from photos taken while on holiday. Enjoy the step-by-step photos, I hope you like my seascape. 😊

Spread the Love with Hand-painted Hanging Hearts

 

When I normally create these hanging hearts, what I have in mind is the forthcoming events such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Easter or Spring. They are perfect to give to loved ones for these occasions, but this year is a bit different. Due to lockdown 3 when staying home is a must, it would be so nice for people to send little messages by post to loved ones to remind them that they are precious. I know we communicate a lot online nowadays, but there is something thoughtful about sending messages by post. We are so used to giving cards for every occasion, imagine if a loved one would receive a nice little hand-painted heart with a hand-written note. How lovely is that? With this gesture in mind and a few people that I want to send some hearts to, I started to create these new hearts, painted with floral pattern in my style. 

Lockdown Sketchbook

Take the lockdown isolation, gorgeous weather and an eagerness to experiment with drawing flowers, my sketchbook started to look rather colourful these days. I am not doing it in the hope to transform the sketchings into paintings, but for capturing the flowers from my garden on a different media other than a photo. Not to mention the practising factor which I have been doing rather sporadically lately.

Owl Painting

For this post, I am sharing my first completed painting after moving into my new studio which is also a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. No words, just images; enjoy!

Spring Flowers: Snowdrops and Daffodils

Snowdrops and daffodils are some of my favourite spring flowers and as I saw them everywhere, despite the cold weather, I wanted to immortalize them in painting so they could live forever. I had a few frames from Ikea, again, so I thought I would use the same method as in this project of painting on an unused canvas, cutting it and mounting it. The result is two mini paintings, perfect for Mother's Day, now available in my Folksy shop.  Next on the list: crocuses and irises, but in the meantime, enjoy the step by step photos. 

January Sketchbook

One of my new year's resolutions is to try and sketch something every day, even though not everything will become a finished painting. Sketching is good to jot down ideas or just record something that inspired you on the day. As I normally paint directly on canvas images that I have in my head, sketching proved to be quite a challenge. I am more about painting and creating textures than drawing, but I must admit that I enjoyed my little drawings. Here are a few images from my sketchbook drawn throughout January, some became paintings, some are just there to inspire me for future paintings and some are just drawing exercises. I will come back with an update later this year.

From Sketch to Painting

I am happy to share my first painting of the year, from sketch to finish. I hope you enjoy it.

December Art Beads Challenge

Now the Christmas is over and we had a few days of 'back to normal' before New Year's Eve, I thought I would embark on this month's challenge over at Art Beads Scene. The artwork is Still Life with Tulips and Fruit Bowl by Susan Valadon created in 1924 in oil on canvas.

November Monthly Challenge @ Art Beads Scene

You probably know by now that I enjoy taking part in the monthly challenge over at Art Beads Scene Studio. Checking this month's artwork inspiration, I loved it straight away. The painting is called 'Crozant, The Bouchardon Mill' by Armand Guillaumin, created in 1906 and it is oil on canvas. I like the colours and the painting that came to mind to use for my pendant connector is 'Midnight Meadow'. Do you approve? As always, enjoy the making of photos and I am looking forward to the next month's challenge.

Christmas Ornaments

I enjoy making Christmas ornaments, either hand painted or mounted with prints after my wintry paintings. As I like unusual decoration for my tree, I thought that other people might look for something whimsical and quirky. This year's ornaments are all about Devon inspired cottages, the same that appear in my paintings. White cute cottages against various shades of blue, green and grey backgrounds with hints of green and red, the colours of Christmas. Here are the making-of photos. Enjoy!

A Bracelet for Madame De Pompadour - Art Bead October Challenge

I love the monthly challenge over at Art Beads Scene Studio even though I have only taken part once so far. Checking this month's painting inspiration, I loved it straight away - Madame De Pompadour by Francois Boucher, dated 1756 and created in oil on canvas. I like the sumptuousness of the dress and the shades of teal and pink and I instantly thought that I could use the below pendant connector for which I printed a mini image of my original painting 'Daisies and Friends'. 

Summer Meadow Inspired by the Eden Project

Have I ever told you that Eden Project is one of my favourite places? Not only is it educational but it offers plenty of photography opportunities. During one of my visits, I was impressed by this meadow scene and few months later, I decided to paint it. Here are the step-by-step photos. Enjoy!

Art Bead August Challenge

I discovered Art Bead Scene Studio a while back and I was enticed by their monthly art bead challenge - creating a piece of jewellery inspired by a classical artwork and using at least one art bead. As I couldn't take part before either because I was too late or too busy with other projects when I checked this month's challenge I fell in love with the painting straight away. Twelve Princesses on the Way to Dance was painted by Kay Nielsen in watercolour and ink and it was published in 1923. This challenge made me look at other paintings by this artist and what a joy that was!

What to do with an Ikea box frame?

I normally put my work into three categories: 1 - ready to sell; 2 - I'm not so sure, needs more work; 3 - I like it, but I won't sell it. Those in the second category go through a few processes of adding, taking away, remaking until I am happy with the result. Sometimes, it might take weeks or months to rework a painting and this is the case with one of my cottage artworks that was waiting to be finished and I just couldn't visualise what else I could do with it.

Yellow Summer Necklace

My latest creation: yellow summer pendant necklace with print after one of my floral paintings.

Blue & Green Bracelets, Perfect for Summer

I haven't created new jewellery with prints of my paintings for a while now and, as I had two pendants connectors ready to be used, I thought I could create a couple of blue and green bracelets, the perfect summer accessory, especially as I just acquired some new lampwork beads by Helen G Beads from Exeter Craft Festival that I was eager to use.

WIP - Floral Handpainted Trinket Box

Hand painted trinket box + inspiration: original meadow painting and hanging decoration by Teodora Totorean

In today's post, I will show you how I painted my latest trinket box. I have chosen my usual floral meadow pattern that I use in some of my paintings and in my hanging decorations as seen in the above photo collage. Here are step by step photos, from the plain box to the finished product. Enjoy!